WASHINGTON -- Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission indicate Democrats in the U.S. Senate are raking in contributions at a rapid clip for the 2010 election.
First-quarter filings reveal that even incumbents considered to be vulnerable are pulling in more than their potential GOP challengers, The Washington Times reported Friday.
In Kentucky, Democrat Lt. Gov. Daniel Mongiardo raised $429,552 in his bid to unseat GOP incumbent Sen. Jim Bunning whose first-quarter haul was $263,000.
Fundraising for ... [full story]

AMERICAN FORK, Utah -- Two 11-year-old boys in American Fork, Utah, may face criminal charges for searching for online pornography on one of their school's computer, police say.
Authorities said the unidentified boys could face charges of dealing in material harmful to a minor or viewing pornography at school for locating pornographic images online and showing them to other students, The Salt Lake Tribune said Wednesday.
The boys, who were suspended by Forbes Elementary School ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- A 9-year-old boy jumped to his death from a 13-story New York building wearing a makeshift parachute and imitating his favorite wrestler, family friends said.
The child, Domori Miles, was such a fan of World Wrestling Entertainment (NYSE:WWE) star Jeff Hardy and his "Swanton Bomb" move that he is thought to have been trying a similar dive from the roof of the building, family friends said in a New York Post report ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani should consider running for the New York governor's job, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich says.
The Georgia Republican used a New York Republican State Committee annual dinner Wednesday to call on Giuliani, whose U.S. presidential bid failed in the primaries, to run for governor, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.
Gingrich also took time during the GOP dinner to urge former New York Gov. George ... [full story]

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Police in Fort Worth, Texas, said they arrested the man responsible for a homicide 23 years ago.
Homicide Sgt. J.D. Thornton said 63-year-old Jay Thayer Williams was arrested in connection with the 1986 shooting death of Sandra Leah Martin at her family's Fort Worth home, the Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram said Thursday.
Martin's husband, David, said his wife was killed while showing the home to a potential buyer. The couple's two ... [full story]

NEW YORK -- A U.S. Army reservist stationed in New York allegedly stole $100,000 in electronics and supplies through a government purchasing program, officials say.
Prosecutors said Sgt. Joseph Copeland of Fort Totten purchased $207,766 worth of merchandise through the program, but about half of the purchases may have been legitimate, the New York Post said Thursday.
The 30-year-old reservist would allegedly sell the excess goods in eBay online auctions, officials said.
Copeland was arrested ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The following are remarks made by U.S. President Barack Obama on high-speed rail transportation Thursday in Washington.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Please, everybody have a seat. Have a seat.
Thank you very much. That is a wonderful reception.
And I want to -- in addition to Ray LaHood and Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel, all of who have worked on this extensively, I also want to acknowledge Jim Oberstar and Rob Andrews, ... [full story]

MADISON, Wis. -- A Dean Health System nurse assisting in a minor surgery in Madison, Wis., was removed from the procedure to be laid off, a company spokesman said.
Dean spokesman Paul Pitas said the manner in which the nurse, whose identity was not revealed, was laid off was a mistake on the part of a company manager.
Pitas said the action never endangered the patient being operated on, the (Madison) Wisconsin State-Journal said.
Pitas ... [full story]

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- A 9-year-old boy faces an aggravated arson charge for a store fire he admitted starting, Chattanooga, Tenn., fire officials said.
Lt. Anthony Moore of the Chattanooga Fire Investigation Division said the boy, whose identity was not reported, confessed to starting the Tuesday fire that destroyed a Dollar General Store in Hixson, Tenn., Chattanoogan.com reported Wednesday.
Fire investigators said the boy's mother told them her son had started the fire.
The boy told ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Thursday she was sorry U.S. veterans were mentioned in a report on right-wing extremism.
CNN said some veterans groups were offended by the departmental report and that Napolitano told the news network's "American Morning" the assessment was not intended to offend U.S. veterans.
"I know that some veterans groups were offended by the fact that veterans were mentioned in this assessment, so I apologize for that offense. ... [full story]

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. -- A Miami Beach, Fla., waiter who was suspected of planning a shooting rampage had 22 handguns and rifles in his home, police said.
Miami Beach police said a search of the home of Pelican Hotel restaurant waiter Timothy Allan Svec, 44, resulted in the discovery of the firearms, The Miami Herald said Thursday.
Svec's lawyers, Sebastian J. Balliro and David Seltzer, say the guns are all legal additions to their client's ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The captain of the U.S.-flagged cargo ship Somali pirates tried to hijack last week will return home Friday, the shipping line's leader said Thursday.
Speaking to the crew of Maersk Alabama who arrived in the United States early Thursday, Maersk Chief Executive Officer John Reinhart confirmed that Capt. Richard Phillips will return home Friday, CBS reported.
Phillips was held hostage in a lifeboat by Somali pirates after they attempted to seize the Maersk ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The National Security Agency reportedly has been going beyond U.S. law in intercepting private e-mail and phone calls, government officials say.
Several intelligence officials said the NSA had been engaged in "overcollection" of domestic communications of Americans, a practice some say is significant but may have been unintentional.
The Justice Department told The New York Times that problems with the agency's surveillance operation "raised concerns" that led to "comprehensive steps to correct the ... [full story]